Meet RSM Pursue Your Passion Winner: Hunter Pearson

Hunter Pearson | Associate | Gaithersburg, MD

On February 24th, 1925 a child was born in the small town of Warrenton, Virginia by the name of Harvey Lee Pearson. During his childhood and into late teens, the United States underwent the worst economic downturn in history. This period would last until he was approximately 16. During this time, Nazi Germany was building the most powerful army the world had ever seen. On December 7, 1941 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and prompted the United States to enter World War II.

On May 20, 1943 Harvey was drafted into the army and reported to Fort Lee, Virginia. He reported to duty with 32 others from Warrenton, Virginia where he was then separated and placed on a train to Keesler Army Air Force base in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was at this time he found out he was placed in the Air Force. From there he went to Lowrey Air Field in Denver Colorado for Aircraft Armament School—then Las Vegas, Nevada for air-to-air gunnery school. Upon completion, he was assigned to his crew as the left waist gunner on a B-17 bomber.

Harvey was the youngest and smallest member of his crew. He was soon given the nickname “Whitey” and known to be very reliable. On May 10th 1944, Harvey and his crew were ordered to Grenier Field near Manchester, N.H., for further dispatch to an undisclosed overseas destination. Whitey discovered his flight path was near his home town of Warrenton. He asked the pilot if they could fly over his hometown and was told that it was a possibility. He was able to inform his family and friends that his plane may be flying over some time the next day.

Word traveled through the town that Harvey may be flying over. Morning came and the crew was set to embark on their journey. Whitey again asked the pilot and was told that restricted no fly zones may not allow them to fly over his hometown after all. Disappointed, he made his way to the back of the plane. On his way back, his navigator told him not to worry; he had set the flight path to take them in Warrenton’s direction. As the crew approached Washington DC, Whitey spotted what he was looking for. He saw the Warrenton courthouse and his house on a hill nearby. Whitey let out a “whoop and a holler” and the pilot let down gradually to 1500 ft. As they approached, the crew noticed quite a few people in the streets clapping and waving. The pilot then did a 360 degree turn, dropping to an elevation of just 500 ft., for one more pass. As they flew over, Whitey ran to the back of the plane for one last look at his home town. He was not sure he would ever see the place again.

The crew arrived in Foggia, Italy on May 20, 1944. While stationed there the crew completed 34 missions, 7 of which were to the Ploesti oil fields in Romania. The main purpose of these missions was to destroy the source of the German resources. More often than not, when the crew was in the air, enemy fire was taken. Whitey recalls one mission where his crew watched their left waist gunner brother’s plane get shot down. Frequently when they were in the air, planes were shot down around them and they couldn’t help but think “when will it be us?” On December 10, 1944 the crew found out they were set to return home.

During his duty, records were kept of all missions which included flight time, targets, and country. It was his dream to go back to Normandy and revisit those life changing experiences. Finally in 2001 he and his wife decided to do just that. They had flights on September 13th to go on their journey. On September 11th, 2001 planes were flown into the twin tours and the pentagon stopping all air travel. Acts of terror had now prevented him and his wife from pursuing this dream.

A few years passed and he and his wife decided to revisit his dream and plan again. The plans were set but this time his wife became ill. It was discovered she needed a valve replaced in her heart and his dream trip was put on the back burner again. Unfortunately, after a couple surgeries the doctors were unable to fix her heart valve. She eventually passed away in December of 2007 and the trip was never completed.

Harvey Lee Pearson is now 91 going on 92 years of age. He is the Soldiers Hill Angus Farm supervisor and able to get from point A to B on his own. With limited time remaining it would mean the world to help my grandfather live his dream for helping provide us the American Dream.